The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has instituted a review of a request filed under
the United States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) to grant duty-free and quota-
free treatment for apparel made in eligible beneficiary countries from certain stock-dyed worsted
wool woven fabrics.

This review is instituted under the ITC's "umbrella" investigation for all such requests,
Investigation No. 332-436, Apparel Inputs in "Short Supply": Effect of Providing Preferential
Treatment to Apparel Imported from Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean Basin Countries,
which was requested by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Oxford Industries, Inc.,
of Atlanta, GA, filed a request alleging "short supply" conditions for the subject apparel inputs
with the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA), an interagency group
chaired by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, factfinding federal agency, will provide advice to the USTR
concerning the probable economic effect on affected segments of the U.S. textile and apparel
industries, workers in these industries, and consumers of granting duty-free and quota-free treatment
to imports of apparel articles made in eligible beneficiary countries from the subject apparel inputs
should CITA determine that such inputs are not available in commercial quantities in the United
States.

Although the ITC will not hold a public hearing in connection with this review, it welcomes input
from interested parties, including written submissions for the record that address the likely effect of
the proposed action on U.S. producers, workers, and consumers. To ensure consideration by the
ITC, interested parties are advised to submit comments and written submissions directly to
the ITC. Written submissions for the record (one original and three copies) should be addressed to
the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington,
DC 20436, and should be submitted at the earliest practical date but no later than 5:15 pm on
August 20, 2002. The Commission's rules do not authorize filing of submissions by facsimile or
electronic means, and all written submissions, except for confidential business information, will be
available for public inspection. Requests for confidential treatment of information must be
submitted in accordance with section 201.6 of the Commission's rules of practice and procedure
(19 CFR 201.6).

The ITC will submit its advice to the USTR in a classified report by September 9, 2002. The ITC will
issue a public version of its report as soon thereafter as possible, with any confidential business
information deleted.

Interested parties seeking more detailed information on the Commission's review of this petition
may contact Kimberlie Freund (202-708-5402, kfreund@usitc.gov), International Trade Analyst,
Office of Industries; or Robert W. Wallace (202-205-3458, wallace@usitc.gov), Chief, Textiles and
Apparel Branch, Office of Industries. Additional information on this review and the overall
investigation may be obtained by contacting the Office of the Secretary at the above address or at
202-205-1806.

The CBTPA legislation, part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, extends duty-free and
quota-free treatment to imports of apparel assembled in eligible beneficiary countries from fabrics
made in the United States from U.S. yarns. The legislation also authorizes the President, on request
of an interested party, to grant preferential treatment to apparel made in eligible beneficiary
countries from fabrics or yarns which "cannot be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial
quantities in a timely manner," regardless of the source of the fabrics or yarns. Before proclaiming
such preferential treatment, the President is required to submit a report to the U.S. House of
Representatives' Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. Senate's Committee on Finance that
sets forth the proposed action, the reasons for it, advice from the ITC on the probable economic
effect of the action, and advice from the appropriate industry advisory committee. Information on
the legislative background of the request process and ITC review of such requests is included in the
ITC's notice of investigation for Inv. No. 332-436, which was published in the Federal Register.

In addition, the ITC has established a special area on its Internet site
(www.usitc.gov/332s/shortsup/shortsupintro.htm) where information related to this review (Inv. No.
332-436-005) and the overall ITC investigation is maintained. The public record for this request
may be viewed on the ITC's electronic docket (EDIS On-Line) at http://dockets.usitc.gov/eol/public.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) publishes a
summary of each request from interested parties in the Federal Register. These notices are posted
on OTEXA's Internet site at http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/fr.stm.

ITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and
are generally conducted at the request of the USTR, the Senate Committee on Finance, or the House
Committee on Ways and Means. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings
and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations
on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation,
the ITC submits its findings and analysis to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports
are subsequently released to the public, unless they are classified by the requester for national
security reasons.